Canon CPS is changing to a paid service

LCPete

LCPete

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CPS is changing into a paid service, a shame really but inevitable I guess , I’m a member at the moment but don’t imagine that I will go for the paid service
the email I just received didn’t give any more details
 
It’s not worth it for me , I don’t use any of the features only used the faster turnaround for repairs and service, I’m not a pro photographer so can’t justify going for the paid service
 
I currently fit into the Gold tier, about 200 points away from Platinum - (2 qualifying camera bodies, 3 qualifying flash guns/transmitters, 9 qualifying lenses and teleconverters).

This is likely to cost € 200 per year plus VAT for membership, which would give me 15% discount on service labour and parts, and a € 200 maintenance allowance (before or after VAT?)

If you are having an annual service on some equipment, it could mean that the actual membership becomes effectively free.
 
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I qualify for the platinum level and have been a member of the programme for 12 years. However, I've not actually used any of the benefits in about 5 years as I've not had to send anything back for service or repair. It was nice to know it was there though and I could get a quick turn around on a repair if required.
 
The faster turn around was handy, especially as I was able to get it all sorted while I was down south for about a week, dropped it off and picked it up at the end of the trip
haven’t needed any service or repairs for a while now , they have always been excellent, I guess they must be struggling a bit to change to a paid membership
 
Although I qualify for the platinum level - I won't be paying for new membership. I know other countries have been 'paid-for' for some years - so it was inevitable that they did something like this, but it was one of the reasons I stayed Canon was the option to have a fast turnaround if I wanted it, but rarely used it. I've had two lens repairs and a body recall over the years and years I've been a member - but certainly wouldn't have benefitted from having paid an annual fee over that same time period. It's a small nail in the coffin of great customer service.
 
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I'm also platinum, but can't justify the cost / do not see any value.

Pre-platinum days (but I guess it depends on the time / how busy they are) - when I broke my 5D MK4, they turned it around in less than a week so I did not need to hire.
 
I am a platinum member and have been with the CPS for more years than I can remember... I will NOT be paying over £300 a year for a service thats always been fre

I was under the impression the CPS was to repay loyalty to the brand aftre all the money we pay in hence the tier system.. the more gear you ahve the higher you go.. My current setup new for old insurance is about 30+k and I dread to think what I ahve spent on canon goods over the last 15 to 20 years

I actually stopped sending my gear to Canon for repair or service some time ago and would only now use for emergency because of the quick turnaround.. But as I ahve backup gear for everyhting thats no longer critical.. The reason I stopped using canon elstree is that my gear is well used and if I send it in to reapir somehtign... they will not send it back until they repair everyhing no matter what.. so a small crack on a info screen i am not bothered about gets repaied and charged top whack... any little thing and the bill mounts up... send to an independant and they just do what you asked and cheaper and guaranteed work

Nope.. i feel my loyalty and the vast amount of money spent wiht canon means nothign to them.. the CPS was some sort of thanks but not now :(

PS I have spent more on Canon gear than I ahve on cars.. yet car dealerships will look aftre you a lot better than canon do :(
 
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Its a big FU to non professionals like myself heavily invested in Canon gear... So long platinum benefits :( And now the Pros will have to pay for services they previously got for 'free' So much for Brand loyalty...
 
turbotoes said:
Its a big FU to non professionals like myself heavily invested in Canon gear... So long platinum benefits :(
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Surely that can't be the case? One of the stages of sign up is that you confirm that you are a working professional (or semi-) in either photography or videography.
After all, that is why it is Called Canon Professional Services.

So you must have either lied to them, or us.
 
Lied? Steady on! I asked when it was mentioned by Canon at the Photo show; you did not have to be a professional. Perhaps they were talking about their approach. It helped me get a camera done more quickly once when it had an untimely fall when we were away. No other benefits for me though so I won't be paying. I had no idea it was paid for in other countries. Compared with Olympus, they really are bad. More evidence, as others have said, that they do not give a monkeys about brand loyalty. I wonder if this attitude will oone day see them fall even further in the sales tables which I read were currently topped by Sony.
 
DemiLion said:
Surely that can't be the case? One of the stages of sign up is that you confirm that you are a working professional (or semi-) in either photography or videography.
After all, that is why it is Called Canon Professional Services.

So you must have either lied to them, or us.
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Wind your neck in Mate, when I signed up there was NO requirement to be a pro, just to have a certain amount and quality of gear, go be judgemental somewhere else until you can get your facts straight.
 
I was given a CPS account when I registered my gear, can't remember being asked my status, they just went on the gear being applied to the account.
I'm just a fool with a tool, so fast turn around isn't important to me, but I can see it being a let down for those who do.
 
DemiLion said:
Surely that can't be the case? One of the stages of sign up is that you confirm that you are a working professional (or semi-) in either photography or videography.
After all, that is why it is Called Canon Professional Services.

So you must have either lied to them, or us.
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I did not lie and I am a member. I was Gold but slipped to Silver when one of my L lenses moved beyond the date set. As a matter of fact, I have just logged in for the first time for at least 4 years and there was a set of questions and I answered that I was a hobbyist. At the end it stated I was eligible for Membership but I did not agree to anything nor did I see a subscription mentioned. When the subscription arises, I will certainly turn it down. Membership seemed to be based on qualifying equipment rather than the owner. At the time I registered, I had a couple of decent Canon DSLR's, several L lenses and a Speedlight. However, I rarely use the Canon kit now so do not need any additional support.

p.s. just received an email from Canon suggesting that I had signed in on a new device which is not true as my PC is now over 8 years old.

Dave
 
I only joined a couple of years ago and the sign-up process made it clear I was not a pro. Qualification was based on the equipment owned.

I will not be paying for the service.
 
Apologies to Turbotoes - having checked the T&Cs, the conditions have clearly changed since I signed up, when it was available to working photographers only.

Which is possibly why they have had to move to a paid system.
 
email hasn't reached me yet... I won't be paying as have sufficient backups in any case...
 
I have sent three repairs to Fuji UK and they have come back within a week. and carry a full years new guarantee.
do not need to sign up to anything.
And the repairs are at fixed prices...... ( they check and fix whatever is needed.)

Fuji do also run a free Professional service. including some free annual servicing. https://eshop.fujifilm-x.com/uk/fps
 
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They probably still have me down as a Platinum member but no way I’d be paying for that even if I still have all my gear.
 
I got the email too, I was a member, but as I've not upgraded my camera since the 1Dmk4 nor the lenses I doubt I would qualify now anyway.
 
turbotoes said:
Its a big FU to non professionals like myself heavily invested in Canon gear...
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You can still get 10% discount by joining “Canon Club”

Question: why should someone who does photography as a hobby receive the same level of service from Canon as a professional photographer who is travelling the world covering major news events such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, natural disasters and wars.

The clue is in the name: Canon PROFESSIONAL Services.

Why do you think you should be given that service free of charge?
 
L320Rio said:
You can still get 10% discount by joining “Canon Club”

Question: why should someone who does photography as a hobby receive the same level of service from Canon as a professional photographer who is travelling the world covering major news events such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, natural disasters and wars.

The clue is in the name: Canon PROFESSIONAL Services.

Why do you think you should be given that service free of charge?
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Because they invested the same amount of money in professional gear as we did... hence the tier system.. the more money you spend the higher up the system you get.... the CPS is a payback for what you spend not what you use the gear for

Well thats the way I se it anyway :)
 
L320Rio said:
You can still get 10% discount by joining “Canon Club”

Question: why should someone who does photography as a hobby receive the same level of service from Canon as a professional photographer who is travelling the world covering major news events such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, natural disasters and wars.

The clue is in the name: Canon PROFESSIONAL Services.

Why do you think you should be given that service free of charge?
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They clearly no longer feel that professionals have a value to them worth the cost of this service.
Which might well be true.

Somee amateurs have the greatest spending power these days
 
L320Rio said:
You can still get 10% discount by joining “Canon Club”

Question: why should someone who does photography as a hobby receive the same level of service from Canon as a professional photographer who is travelling the world covering major news events such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, natural disasters and wars.

The clue is in the name: Canon PROFESSIONAL Services.

Why do you think you should be given that service free of charge?
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1 as above, the ‘level of service’ is based on customer spend.

2 the likely amount of interaction is actually very different. There’s no amateurs nipping into the cps truck at the olympics to loan a R3 and a 400 2.8 for a couple of days.

But congrats on completely grabbing the wrong end of the stick (again).
 
Can’t see that the benefits are worth the expense and I say that as a pro with platinum membership for years. Email annoyed me and I see this as an own goal for Canon but then since when did most companies care about customer service.
 
Phil V said:
But congrats on completely grabbing the wrong end of the stick (again).
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So in that case educate me. I would be very grateful if you would answer the following question.

As a member of CPS what benefits are you currently making use of that you will loose if you decide not to pay the annual subscription, and what effect will that decision have on your photography?
 
L320Rio said:
So in that case educate me. I would be very grateful if you would answer the following question.

As a member of CPS what benefits are you currently making use of that you will loose if you decide not to pay the annual subscription, and what effect will that decision have on your photography?
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I haven’t been a member for years. And when I was a working pro and I was a member, I actually used none of the benefits at all, other than reading the magazine which then ceased to be a free benefit.

And everyone in this discussion knows what the benefits are.

And it’s surely then a personal decision whether each individual thinks it’s worthwhile.

None of that has anything to do with your original point…
L320Rio said:
Question: why should someone who does photography as a hobby receive the same level of service from Canon as a professional photographer who is travelling the world covering major news events such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, natural disasters and wars.
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The understanding of the actual point being about as accurate as your posts on copyright ;)

So if you’re an amateur with £30k worth of Canon gear, the usable benefit is priority servicing, nowt else realistically.

And if you’re a working pro (going to the olympics) the benefits are so much more than that.
 
Realistically it is moving from being a paid-for-by-everyone (including those that can't use it) model to being paid for by those that use it.

It should in theory slice as much as 50p off the cost of an R3 body (oh how we pished ourselves laughing)
 
L320Rio said:
So in that case educate me. I would be very grateful if you would answer the following question.

As a member of CPS what benefits are you currently making use of that you will loose if you decide not to pay the annual subscription, and what effect will that decision have on your photography?
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Your point feels quite pompous to me.

The benefit to me was a priority service and timely fix on a lens that I dropped, tried to fix myself, broke and could never put back together. I have no idea if I could have got it fixed privately but concidering the broken plastic locating and rotating arm on an internal element, uncalibrated focus and broken flex cable securing i very much doubt it.

but by sending a 15 year old 24-105L mk1 to canon - for less than the cost of buying the same lens second hand and saving £1000+ on an equivalent new lens I got it fixed to as close to new as I could hope, I got the focus calibrated and all within a week…

If I’ve just spent 5k on an R5 and a further 3k on the 100-500 plus the 20 years worth of other canon ‘stuff’ I have why should I not be entitled to priority service?
 
L320Rio said:
You can still get 10% discount by joining “Canon Club”

Question: why should someone who does photography as a hobby receive the same level of service from Canon as a professional photographer who is travelling the world covering major news events such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, natural disasters and wars.

The clue is in the name: Canon PROFESSIONAL Services.

Why do you think you should be given that service free of charge?
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I don’t understand what you’re issue is to be honest, Canon CPS was for people who bought Canon gear , recognising those who invested in the Canon the system higher end bodies and lenses
its nothing to do with what you use the gear for it was just a recognition and support for enthusiasts as well as professionals
 
CPS members that decide not to pay the annual fee will still get their equipment serviced and repaired by Canon, and they will still receive a 10% discount on those costs on proviso that they join Canon Club.

As far as I am aware, at the time of writing this, the Canon Club website does not state what the turnaround time will be.
 
L320Rio said:
Question: why should someone who does photography as a hobby receive the same level of service from Canon as a professional photographer who is travelling the world covering major news events such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, natural disasters and wars.
Click to expand...

I'm willing to place a fairly decent punt that you haven't done any of those things either.

L320Rio said:
The clue is in the name: Canon PROFESSIONAL Services.
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Given your knowledge of copyright doesn't extend past 1988, why would you be using a service for professional users of digital cameras?
 
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